🧠 Meanwhile, in a central government office...
Ye Guohua looked up from a stack of papers and asked:
"What do you think about calling Lingzhi back to help him? She studied automobile design too."
Chen Ningyun smiled softly.
"Uncle Ye, you know why Lu Haifeng went abroad.
Asking Lingzhi to help now would only complicate things."
"It's been over ten years since they've seen each other."
Ye let out a wry smile.
"Then forget it."
Little did Haifeng know—he had just narrowly avoided a crisis.
📱 7:00 PM – China Star Tech Headquarters
Having wrapped up the final audits on the vehicle production line, Haifeng sat in his office reviewing mobile phone market data.
The numbers were precise:
The competition was heating up fast.
It was time to release the Star Series.
At 7 PM sharp, without prior announcement or teaser campaigns, China Star Technology unveiled its first-generation Star Series smartphones—the Star Q1 and Star M1.
The internet exploded.
This wasn't even a proper launch—just a quiet website update.
There had been no leaked specs, official images, or press hype.
And yet...
Social media ignited when people saw the teaser posters on China Star's website.
For those who hadn't yet been able to afford the Hongmeng S1R or X1, the Star Series was the golden ticket.
Why?
One key phrase stood out in the teaser:
"Extreme Cost Performance."
💬 Netizen Reactions:
"Holy crap—already?! I thought this was coming in September!"
"China speed. Massive respect to the engineers at China Star."
"They just keep winning. Forever a god-tier company."
No specs. No price. No date.
But the name alone was enough to send the entire market into a frenzy.
📢 Digital Influence Strategy
By the morning of the 26th, the press conference guest list had been confirmed: 1,000 attendees.
Liu Jianyu, the project lead for the Star Series, was in full campaign mode.
"We're not repeating the S1 strategy," he told his assistant.
"This time, we build hype before the launch."
He launched a social media campaign using influencers across Weibo, Tieba, and tech forums.
Each digital creator had already received review units of the Star Series devices under semi-confidential NDAs.
They could showcase the look and general feel.
However, they could not reveal the processor specs or performance benchmarks.
That was reserved for the official press conference.
The tactic worked.
Within hours, hundreds of influencers were posting videos and first impressions:
"This thing is crazy fast."
"Ultra-smooth performance—feels premium."
"The Star Q1 might be the budget king of the year."
The hype went viral.
Forums lit up. Comment sections exploded.
Everyone had the same question:
"How powerful is the chip?"
💬 Public Buzz
"I'm guessing they used the Kunpeng or Jinwu chip again."
"Maybe something new? Zhulong variant?"
"China Star must've developed a new processor. Just watch."
"They've probably given bloggers hush money to rave about it."
Good or bad, the Star Series was trending top 10 nationwide.
📉 Dami Headquarters – Lei Jun's Office
Lei Jun, founder of Dami Mobile, sat on his monitor watching one of the Star Series preview videos.
His palms were drenched in sweat.
"They dropped it now… with no warning…"
"China Star just changed the game again."
He knew this wasn't just a new model.
This strategic disruption was launched in the dead zone between holiday sales cycles.
Foreign brands like Apple and Samsung had just launched new lines.
Domestic makers were still gearing up.
And now?
China Star had blindsided them all.
Lei Jun watched the footage closely.
"Everyone's talking about the software. But that's just smoke."
"The real question is… what processor is in that phone?"
He analyzed the footage frame by frame.
The M1 doesn't have the Jinwu chip.
But the Q1?
"I'm 90% sure it's running the Quanwu chip."
Which meant…
The M1 might be running a new chip they hadn't announced yet.
⏰ 4 Hours Until Launch – Haifeng's Office
Just then, the door opened.
Lei Jun walked in.
Haifeng smiled.
"President Lei, long time no see.
You arrived just in time—interested in catching our new product launch?"
He wasn't surprised at all.
Lei Jun was innovative.
And smart people could sense power—even when it hadn't been revealed.